I posted earlier with concerns about choosing which processor to go with on my next build, and received exactly what I needed to dive in and work out what I want (thanks!). I don't play games, which makes normal recommendations difficult to translate So it was important to go have a look at prices and specs on my own. I'm going AMD 8350 with this computer. I feel that the FX 8 cores will give me the best price/performance for what I intend to be doing: coding, network management, folding/BOINC, and virtualization.

Oh, and in the meantime, my current desktop decided to cut out, and $70 in "stimulus" funding hasn't gotten it back on it's feet. So I'm advancing my timeline a little.

Plan:
- Get a working computer.
- Work out the storage situation (ssd - hdds - RAID - NAS).
- Wait for ATI 9000 series graphics cards to hit, then buy two 7xxx and Crossfire them. I could really use some feedback on this, I'm running four 1080p monitors.
- Install another 10/100/1000 NIC
- Build a water loop.

Motherboard is pretty darn expensive, especially since you're not asking all that much of a motherboard. I'd recommend moving to an ECS A990FXM-A for $128. Also handy in that it already comes with two gigabit ethernet ports standard. What do you plan to use that for, anyway?http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135345

The real question I have is: do you need GPU processing power for your virtualization programs? Because otherwise I don't see a point to spending much on a video card. You can run four monitors on any old modern card. Even Nvidia has finally gotten around to 4 monitors on a single card (I think). This can significantly affect your PSU choice as well. The Seasonic X-series is, of course, excellent. But unless you're into quiet computing it's kind of pointlessly expensive. For instance you can get a perfectly good XFX 850w for $125http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=78945&vpn=P1850BBEFX&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1258

And since I doubt you really want/need to crossfire (even if you do want a professional GPU for some of your programs, crossfire is frequently a a bad solution), you can go for a good 450w PSU if you're not going to need to run power-hog video cards. (A Rosewill Capstone 450w is $63 right now.)

Unless you have demand for the computing power of a professional GPU or a 7970, I'd suggest just grabbing this for your multi-monitor needs:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125453
(note: video outs are 2x DVI-D, HDMI, and VGA. So at least one of your 4 monitors would have to be hooked up to VGA, and you'll have to make sure your current cables can fit DVI-D. On the other hand, four video outs). Any Nvidia 6xx series or AMD 7xxx series that has video outs that work for you should do the job.

If you're into silent computing, I'm sorry to report the passively-cooled 7750 Sapphire produces only has 3 video outs.

Now, gpus. I don't need much power at all, and I really didn't know that quad screens was available on one card! But I do need DVI/HDMI for all four.. It would be worthwhile to me to pick up two larger gpus for the four screens and devote the wasted power to BOINC projects. Does that sound like a plan that would work?

Seasonic was an absolute, I nearly burned down a dormitory last year because of a scam psu..

Thank you again, I'll be back after school and see if I can elaborate or clear things up.
-CTAG